


Control

by HappyBee



Series: Control [2]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Cherik was implied in the prequel and might develop again, Dark!Charles, Erik is Erik, In which Charles pushes some boundaries, M/M, Mind Manipulation, everyone is concerned, still don’t know what I’m doing, who knows what the future holds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2020-08-09 18:01:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20122552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyBee/pseuds/HappyBee
Summary: In his childhood, Charles had seen what lack of control would do. He kept a tight leash on himself and his abilities and set rules that he dare not cross. All to keep control. But it wasn’t really control was it? His whole life he had been stunting his powers to maintain the illusion that he understood them. His ability was control. He was perhaps the only being who knew exactly what real control could be.“And like a fool, you push it away.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my series I have been working on. It picks up after I Went Too Far which kinda serves as a prequel of sorts.

Charles was standing in his study. _ No, that couldn’t be right. _And this was his old study. The one upstairs. The one he used to use before… He looked around the familiar room. He could see the two chairs in front of the table where he and Erik used to play chess. Books lined the room in ordered rows. Some were on genetics either his own, or his father’s before him. His father kept a great amount of other scientific texts. Charles himself had added some classic literature that he enjoyed, something that never really interested his father. His eyes shifted to the old desk. The windows cast a surreal cool glow on neatly stacked papers. In fact everything was cast in an otherworldly blue. He wasn’t awake then. He was still unconscious and this was his mindscape.

_I didn’t know you had it in you old friend. _A voice echoed around him that seemed like several people were talking over each other, but each voice was the same. 

“What is this?” Charles whipped around though he wasn’t sure what he expected to find. Was another telepath communicating with him? Had what in him? “Who are you?”

_Don’t worry, I’m just talking to myself. But if you are listening that is just as well. _Charles could hear this being, but couldn’t sense anyone else trying to enter his mind. In fact he had to strain to sense anyone in the waking world. He could feel Hank; he had confusion rolling off him and worry. Charles thought that he might should try to figure out what was concerning his friend, but it hurt to focus on him, which likely had something to do with the fact that he was still unconscious. But even when he slept, Charles was very good at shielding so that he would never be compromised, or accidentally compromise someone else subconsciously. So whoever had broken into his mind was either very good, or…

Appearing to have read his thoughts, the voice continued, _No one has broken in, I doubt there are many who could, even in our weakened state._ This wasn't making sense. No one should be able to be talking to him right now. He should be able to sense what was going on. This was his own mind!So that meant whatever this was, it had to have already have been inside… But he would have known, wouldn’t he? There was still much to be learned about the mutations of others, but Charles was well versed in telepathy. The act of placing a consciousness into another being was theoretical at best and he was almost certain that the act would have major repercussions for the original mind, if it didn't destroy it completely. He would at least have taken notice.

The voice seemed to chuckle at that, _I mean this in the best way, but under your strain recently, I’m not sure you would have noticed a lot, and you definitely would have been hard pressed to recognize anything for what is was. Even we have our limits, I’m afraid. And anyways, I assure you I am hardly anything new. _This being, the way it talked, was familiar. Something was off though. And the way it kept saying _ we_…

“You are a part of my consciousness?” Charles was astounded. Everyone had a head voice. It was common for people to talk to themselves, despite the myth that it was a sign of insanity. This was something different though. This was more than Charles just working things out in his head. It was like, this being was separate from him. 

“Top marks, Charles.” Something had shifted and Charles turned to find what appeared to be a mirror image of himself, lounging at his desk. The entity’s face split into a grin. “It is nice to meet face to face like this. And to be recognized," the being paused, "well, it is not quite as rewarding to work in the shadows.” 

Working in the shadows? Regardless of what this other self had said, Charles still couldn’t believe he wouldn’t have taken notice of something like this. 

“Oh, I think you did a little bit.” This entity was a part of him, but Charles didn’t seem to share his thoughts. What was more disconcerting was that this being seemed to read _ his, _plain as day. “Charles I think our brain might be the most active as well as the most powerful in the world. I think it’s safe to say that you think quite a bit. Every decision you make, you go through every option, do you not? Even the ones that you find, hmm… a little less savory? You never act on them, of course not, ever the saint, but they are there to be dismissed by you. Don’t you ever wonder where they go? And where do these whispered ideas come from anyways?”

If Charles was at all intrigued by the discovery of this manifestation before, it was quickly being replaced with something akin to fear. He didn’t know how to respond to this. It didn’t seem real. "Why can't I read you? You say you are my thoughts, yet I don't even know what they are. And you seem to read me just fine."

"That's interesting," the other Charles observed detachedly almost as if Charles was a child who had pointed out an obvious fact. "You are right of course, I can read you. like right now I know you are confused. You don't know whats happening to you. Just like you didn't know what you did to Erik." Charles had done something to Erik? "It's like a whole new world has opened up before you. For me too. A world of power at our fingertips that we've never even begun to explore."

The being moved from behind the desk and started towards Charles. “Woah, hey relax. It’s fine, it’s all normal.” But nothing about this was normal. As his mirror image made strides toward him, Charles started stumbling back. He was vaguely aware of some sort of high pitched sound in the background. “I understand your concern, I do, but I’m here to help us. _I promise_.” Charles hit something at his back. Realizing it was the door, he reached and fumbled at the knob before wrenching the door open and flinging himself out into the hall of his mind. The noise was getting faster and louder. It was like some sort of mechanical beeping. 

_Charles, you can’t run from yourself, _The voice chided_. _Ahead of him, the hall seemed to stretch, the door at the end growing in distance like some sort of nightmare scenario. Charles was breathing heavy, not daring to slow or look behind him. He couldn't be trapped in his own mind. He stretched his hand out but he couldn’t reach the door that he somehow knew would get him out of this. He had to have control. He strained harder, the beeping was was grating at his head now. Somehow, as if some great power surged out of nowhere, the door burst open without him laying a finger on it. And then Charles was trying to catch his breath, blinking at the fluorescent lights that filled the sublevel of his manor. 

“Oh my god. Woah, hey, hey, hey! Calm down” Hank was speaking to him. “You are safe. You’ve been unconscious for two days. You… something happened, but you are okay now. You are home.” The beeping began to slow to a steady rhythm.

“I- what happened? I don’t remember.” He had been running... but that couldn’t be right. His eyes trailed up from his useless legs to find he had several wires at his arms, chest, and head, connecting him to a number of machines and screens and an I.V. One screen showed images of a brain with an outstanding amount of activity, the likes of which he had never seen. “Is- is that _ me _?” Charles stammered. 

Hank followed his gaze to the screen. “Yeah. Yeah that’s you. I’ve never seen anything like it…” he trailed off. Then he seemed to register something and suddenly flicked the screen off. “Charles lay back I got to run some tests. Get you out of these wires.” Curious at this shift, Charles reached out to Hank’s mind and caught, _ -Shouldn’t be that active. Even for someone with his powers… I don’t want to stress him. _

“Two days… shit, _ Erik! _Hank what happened? Is everybody okay? What happened to Magneto?” The events from tha day came flooding back to him, causing him to wince. Charles started trying to sit up again, meeting Hank’s arms pushing him back down. The metal bender had pushed too far, almost at the expense of thousands. Not to mention he would have destroyed any hope of peaceful mutant/human relations. Everything they had been working for, compromised by Erik’s blind rage and hatred for humanity. Something in Charles had snapped. And in return, Charles snapped something in Erik. Though what he had actually done, he could only guess at.

Hank gave him a look. Charles could taste his hesitation as if it were his own. “Everyone is fine. Scott was a little banged up and Jean was sick for a bit but they are fine now. Everyone survived Charles. I don’t know what you did, but somehow you saved them. As for Magneto… well he wasn’t there when we found you. I don’t know.” So Erik had gotten away. Was he okay? Surely he was still alive. Charles would know if he… 

Hank straightened his glasses. “Charles, what do you remember? What happened? When we found you, you were unconscious. We found this on the ground.” he grabbed something just out of Charles sight. It was the helmet. Cracked and damaged, _ much like the wearer, _some part of him thought. “Magneto wouldn’t just leave it. What did you do?” 

Charles averted his gaze and took a shaky breath. “Honestly Hank, I wish I knew.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh so this is like my first series ever. I’m super duper new at this so please be patient and forgive my errors. Y’all were so lovely with I Went Too Far and have inspired me to keep running with this so thank you! I kinda writing it as I go so I don’t know how often I’ll update but please enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

After running countless tests, Hank deemed Charles perfectly healthy even if they could not discern the reason for his crazy brain activity. His telepathy seemed fine, more than fine if he was being honest, save for a mild headache, and Charles told Hank as much. “Really, I’m feeling okay now. I’d really love to check up on the others, and then get back to work.” 

Hank seemed hesitant. “I don’t know Charles. You were out for two days and now you’ve only been conscious for a few hours. You should rest here for now. I should run some more tests–”

“_ No more tests.” _Charles was surprised himself at his commanding tone, but Hank didn’t flinch. If anything, he seemed to relax. 

“You know what, you are probably right.” Hank conceded. “Let’s get you out of all of this,” and he started to disconnect all of the wires and monitors. Charles was taken aback by the sudden shift. Hank had seemed so set on keeping him here longer and then just like that, it was as if something had come over him and… _ changed his mind. _ Did _ he _ do this? He certainly hadn’t put any conscious effort into manipulating his friend. He would never do that. This was Hank for goodness sake.

“Hank,” Charles started, unsure of what he even wanted to say. _Is everything alright?_ _Did you change your mind on your own? Did I just change your mind without even meaning to? Are you acting on your own will? _He settled on, “You are okay with me going?”

Hank looked at him, complete trust in his eyes as he brought over Charles’ wheelchair. “Of course. You’ll be wanting to see the others then?” 

Suddenly Charles didn’t think he needed to be around others at the moment. Charles swallowed the lump in his throat as he lowered himself into the chair, “I think I’ll take your advice, actually, and get some rest. I’ll just be in my room.” Charles tried to give Hank a nod in thanks, but couldn’t meet his eyes, so instead he just rolled out slightly swifter than normal. 

Once in the safety of his own room, Charles maneuvered himself into his bed and tried to control his racing thoughts. He had just manipulated what he probably considered his closest friend. He did god knows what to Erik, and he changed Hanks mind with less than a thought. What was happening to him? He folded his hands over his head and tried to breathe.

_ You were fine. You didn’t need to be stuck in the basement when we have work to do. _

It was wrong. He hadn’t even meant to do it.

_ He’s fine. You didn’t hurt anyone. _

But still, if he did that to his friend, what might he do to others?

_ You’ll never do a thing you don’t want to. _

He just needed to control this.

_ Yes control. _

It had been so easy.

_ Think of what else you could do. _

“_ No _ .” He said out loud. He shut his eyes before opening them to his mindscape. And there he was, reclined in his chair, legs crossed on top of the desk. Except it couldn’t be him because _ he _was standing here looking at the creature. 

“No?” the Not-Charles questioned innocently.

“You are trying to confuse me. I remember you. Why couldn’t I remember you before?” This was the same thing that had happened earlier. He had spoken to himself, but it hadn’t been himself. It had been like a different side of himself.

“I don’t know why it's a surprise, Charles. You never remembered me before.” _ Before? _Charles tried to think if he had encountered this before, but he came up short.

“What do you mean? We never spoke before I woke up.” 

“But of course we had.” The being smiled at Charles like a teacher who had explained this before. This being made Charles feel like he didn’t know anything. Like he didn’t even know himself. It was disconcerting to say the least. The entity had stood up and moved to the front of the desk, but made no further movements towards Charles, unlike their first encounter. He seemed like he didn’t want to scare him like he had before. “Charles I am a part of you. I always have been.” 

“What do you mean? I would have remembered you! Why don’t I remember you?” Charles felt like he was grasping at straws. Reaching for memories, his _ own _ memories, that should be there but weren’t. Did he block his own memories?

“It wasn’t necessary at the time.”

“It wasn’t –” And then it was as if a dam had broken and a flood of memories poured in. Charles saw himself as a child, his mother sending him to his room until something changed her mind and instead he was eating ice cream in her lap. He watched as Raven begged him to stay out of her head after they had fought and he had made her move away from him against her will. He saw himself sitting alone in his room as books and pens and other items floated around him. Then he was screaming as objects flew at Kurt after his stepfather had tried to force him into the basement because Charles’ had ‘misbehaved’. Then he was hiding from Cain, only to be found and beaten. Something shifted and Cain stopped abruptly and then, to Charles’ horror, he threw himself down the stairs. 

Memory after memory that Charles had never even known about played through his head. He had done all of this? The things he had done,_ had been able to do _ … He remembered having trouble controlling his power as a child, but never like this. He’d always known Raven had asked him to stay out, but he thought she had just wanted privacy! He never imagined he had violated her in such a way. He had thrown Cain down the stairs! It was terrible. How had no one ever told him? Raven would have seen this. Did he block it from her mind? He had blocked it from himself even! It was his life, he knew, but this wasn’t him. It couldn’t be. “ _ What are you?” _Charles basically whispered the question as tears flowed down his face.

“I’m the one that keeps you safe Charles. I protect you.” He was moving towards him now, but Charles was shaking his head.

“You’re a monster.” He was breathless. “I’m a–”

“I’m help,” the other Charles interjected. “And you need it.” 

* * *

With a gasp, Charles was thrown back into his room, his real room, his chest heaving. Something had happened. He was afraid of something, but he didn’t know what. Something had happened and he had come to his room to rest. Maybe he still wasn’t feeling as well as he had thought. He felt like he was missing something… It might just be a consequence of the days he had missed. A knock at his door drew him from his thoughts and he shook his head to clear it. Hank. 

“Charles?” The scientist’s voice called through the door. Charles was sitting in his chair but he hadn’t remembered getting into it again. “Are you feeling up for dinner?” Dinner? It couldn’t be that late yet, he remembered it had been just after 1:00 when he went to his room. He looked to his window and was startled to see it was dark out. His clock read 7:00 pm. That… that couldn’t be right. He hadn’t been the least bit tired, and he felt like shit now so he couldn’t have slept that whole time. “I’ll just have one of the students bring you something. You keep resting.” Charles felt the mind fade away into the crowd of students before letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

Charles had missed almost 6 hours. And he had no idea what had happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note that Charles doesn't remember talking to his other self when he comes back to reality. At least he hasn't yet.
> 
> Thank you for comments and kudos!


	3. Chapter 3

Jean could pinpoint the exact moment something snapped. She couldn’t say what  _ it  _ was or what the repercussions might be, but she was pretty sure she knew who caused it. 

It was no secret that the Professor and Magneto weren’t always enemies. They had worked together, fought together, until they fell apart. Scott said Magneto betrayed him. His brother had told him that out of nowhere, the man had turned on the very people they had tried to save, thus turning against the former X-Men themselves. But Jean had to disagree. She had spent enough time in the heads of others to know that actions like that didn’t come from nowhere. They came from ideas. Planted like seeds to be nurtured until they grow. That is how Erik Lehnsherr became Magneto and that is how she suspected the Professor had snapped. 

Jean hadn’t seen it. She wasn’t near the epicenter to witness the shatter but she had been close enough to sense it. The Professor wasn’t like the others. He guarded his mind at all times, only allowing her’s to slip in during lessons. She sensed pain though. Pain, covered by rage, twisted into something broken, but determined. This was the mind of a man who believed with every fiber, that he was right. It was a dangerous concoction.  _ Erik _ , her mind supplied.  _ Magneto.  _ So this was him. The man beneath the helmet. 

Normally, Jean would attempt to master her mind and keep it from seeping through the cracks of others like the Professor had been teaching her. However, she doubted even he would be demonstrating any such courtesy at the present moment. Here was his greatest adversary, for once, vulnerable for abled minds to slip in. So she let her thoughts go deeper, finding the forest of ideas that had grown into something much more twisted and gnarled. This is what his hate and fear had bred. But even amongst that where still saplings. She saw hope of a better future . Love, forgotten. And even seeds of doubt. He did what he did because he had to act. Maybe there were other ways, better ways. But he would never be able to create them and so he did the only thing he knew he could do well. He destroyed. 

Jean was treading deeper and deeper into the forest of a mind, like Red Riding Hood led astray by her curiosity. By the time she recognized the other presence, it was too late. The world began to shake. Roots were wrenched out around her, the earth cracking and splitting in their wake until a schism opened beneath her and she was falling, falling, falling.

Until she wasn’t. Because here was the ground, the _ real  _ ground, beneath her hands and feet. Not the earth of a wrecked mind. She had fallen to a shaking heaving mess on the floor, her whole body reacting to the psionic force that had torn her out and the other mind apart. She pulled up the shields she had once spent hours mastering with the Professor so that she could separate herself from the other man’s anguish. It was still too much to bear. This man’s mind had been savaged. And Charles Xavier had been the one to cause it.   
  
  


* * *

Jean wasn’t sure what to expect when she brought her knuckle against the door. She took a moment and reached out, not to read, but intending to brush up against the usual steady hum of Charles Xavier’s. What she found, to her surprise was instead intangible and muffled. Not like something was interfering with it, but more like it was noise submerged in water. Despite it seeming muddled, there was no denying that it was still the Professor. It carried his power, though unusually errotic. It made her slightly uneasy.

_ ‘Come in Jean’,  _ the professor echoed in her mind startling her from her thoughts. Her curiosity had not gone unnoticed, but the Professor had long since given her permission to push at his mind if not anyone else’s. He understood how it hard it was to keep telepathy reeled in and they agreed to be a little less rigid with each other. She couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty though, as if she had been caught looking in on something she shouldn’t have.

She timidly pushed the door open and entered, “Hank said you might be needing something to eat.” she motioned with her hand holding the plate. She took her first look at the Professor since he’d woken up. He looked terrible. There were circles under his eyes, and a heaviness in his shoulders. There was no denying that he was exhausted, but what she had sensed in his mind hadn’t been. It had been strong and untempered. She couldn’t make any sense of the man before him.

“Please come in,” he invited. “You can set it right there.” He shuffled around and made a spot at a corner of his desk. Charles had never been particularly neat, despite what you might expect from someone who seemed so formal, but this was different. His study was a  _ mess _ . There were papers strewn about his desk, books in unorganized piles instead of packed into the bookshelf behind him. There was a glass of unfinished scotch by a partially set chess board, though who he could have been playing with was beyond Jean. 

“Are you okay?” She asked setting the plate down. She looked back at Charles, but his eyes seemed unfocused. Suddenly he flinched and mumbled something that might have been  _ shut up.  _ “What?” It was getting increasingly harder not to be worried.

“I feel like I should be asking you the same thing,” He said as if nothing had happened at all. “From what I heard, I wasn’t the only one with side effects from the uh… incident.”

“I hardly think my situation compares to your-”

“Hank told me you felt ill, weak,” he cut in. “Can you tell me what happened?” It wasn’t that his concern was unexpected, but it was obvious he was trying to avoid talking about himself. Not only that, it was as if there was something else behind the question. But no, this was the Professor, who practically raised her. Of course he would want to know.

“I experienced something, I think linked to what might have happened to you,” Jean hesitated not sure how much she should reveal. “Whatever you did–” She backtracked. “Whatever happened to Magneto,” she started again, “I felt some of it. I felt his mind. It felt like it was shattering”

She looked for a reaction, but Charles just seemed pensive. His hands moved from his temples, to cover his face, before dropping them again. “I see,” he said at last, his face blank.

“What did you– Did you do something?” Jean rephrased, knowing the answer, but not sure she wanted to hear it. She couldn’t explain why, but she felt it very important not to be hostile or accusing to the Professor right now.

“I did what I had to,” he responded with a steel gaze before it soften into something else completely. “But I did nothing that can’t be reversed. Everyone was saved. Everything is okay.”

He assurances only made her more uneasy. “And you?” she asked. 

And for a moment, it was as if something had shifted, allowing her the barest glimpse of something that was growing, possibly had been growing for longer than either of them were aware. Perhaps the seed had been planted long ago but now the roots had begun to push through the cracks. Whatever it was, it smiled at Jean and responded, “I am better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imma be honest and tell y'all that this chapter went way different than my outline, but I guess Charles and his other have a mind of their own now. Thats fine I guess. Who needs plans anyways?
> 
> Also i just went back and noticed that chapter 1 and chapter 2 had been flipped? I think it might have been that way for awhile? I have no idea. But I fixed it now. So if you are coming back to this, just double check and make sure you know what happened in what order. sorry about that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if I’m being honest, I haven’t been sure if I wanted to put this section here or not, and I’ve been kinda struggling to bridge this general area to another, but I’ve had this written for so long, and I haven’t posted in so long, so I’m hoping this will propel me to write more and get this going ya know? We gonna try to make this fic work. Also it’s hecking short I meant to put another section with it but as I said, I’m struggling.

Erik had woken up in what he assumed to be some sort of hospital. He looked around and could see a monitor hooked up to him along with IV.  _ Shit.  _ Erik tried to swallow down his panic. He wasn’t a kid anymore and no one was holding him down. He could move, he could leave. No one was hurting him. He was alone. Good. No one knew he was awake yet. He could use that to his advantage. He could see plenty of metal in the room. That was good too. Safe. 

He let his senses roll out expectant for the tools and other objects to hum in response, ready to jump to his aid, but was met with only stillness. He tried again, trying to use his growing panic as fuel. Nothing. Just emptiness in a room that was anything but. He tried again, and again, but there was no avail. It was as if part of him had been cut off. The absence of his sense was drowning, suffocating. It was like the room was closing in on him. His panic was surgering back stronger now. He had to get out. 

He yanked the IV out and threw himself out of the bed, stumbling against the monitor, using it to balance himself, only for it to fall to the floor with a clatter. Erik hit the ground with it, only to dizzily scrambled to his feet again. He had to get out. Everything was wrong. He hadn’t escaped Shaw, the camps, only to be subdued now, god knows where. By the time he finally staggered to the door, it was thrown open and without thinking, Erik pinned the newcomer against the wall inside and shut the door.

_ Mystique?  _ “What’s going on? Where am I? What the fuck did you do to me?” the familiar face shocked him, but he didn’t loosen his grip. It didn’t seem to matter though, as strong as Mystique was, for she quickly got the better of him and turned him against the wall instead.

“I saved your life, damnit,” she grit out. “Calm the fuck down.” Erik stilled at that. Mystique seemed to search his eyes and whatever she found must have been convincing because she let him go. As soon as she did Erik’s strength seemed to leave him and he staggered before he slid to the ground.

“ _ Shit,”  _ she hissed. “You’re a fucking wreak, Lehnsherr.” She took hold of him and hoisted him back to his feet and led him back to the bed. She was right. He was a mess. Everything felt off. What had happened? He tried to think back to his confrontation, but the effort just made his head hurt.  _ Charles. _

“Where is Charles? Are you…” He trailed off. He didn’t know if they had reconciled or not since D.C..

“I don’t know, Erik. I’ve been on my own.” She looked away. “I have no idea what happened to him. I had been following  _ you. _ ” Erik just put his head in his hands. “I know you can be a little drastic in your methods sometimes, Erik, but this? I couldn’t let you go through with it, you had to have known that.” 

“You couldn’t have stopped me.” Erik doesn’t know why he feels compelled to say this, but he knows it to be true. He doesn’t think even Charles would have been able to reach him if not for his powers. He had been beyond reason and powered by rage. Erik was still wrecked with grief and anger, but it seemed to have receded much as his powers as disappeared.

Mystique just ignored him and continued. “By the time I got there, the X-Men were gone, the place was in ruins, and you were unconscious. We have our differences, but I couldn’t just leave you there. I couldn’t believe that Charles  _ had. _ ” 

“Yeah, Charles seems to be defying expectations recently,” he responded bitterly.

“Erik what the hell happened?”

He looked at her and tried to think how to respond. There was too much that he didn’t understand. He felt like he was missing something. “I don’t know,” he settled on. “He– Charles confronted me. I didn’t have my helmet and he did something. I think he took my powers.” Saying it out loud made it so much worse. 

“What?” Mystique looked taken aback. “Is that even possible?” 

“Do you have any other explanation?” Erik glared at her.

“So you can’t use your power at all?” She pushed. Erik gave a fruitless attempt at trying to move even just a paper clip, but still felt nothing. He tried not to wince.

“It’s like I’m completely cut off. It’s just… missing.”

“That seems so unlike him, though,” Mystique protested. Erik had thought that too. He realized he had relied on Charles’ gentle nature and that had been his mistake. 

“Maybe he’s changed. Or maybe we don’t know him like we thought we did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The longer I go without writing more, the less I like my past writing. I’m just attached to my his idea and I want to do it justice and oof I don’t like how I kinda just jumped straight in. Hopefully I’ll be able to revise it someday but who knows. Honestly I’ll just be glad to keep it going.


End file.
